Show I AF J r r BY RICHARD WILKINSON HILL WILKINSON TRANGER than fiction Yes I IJ J suppose It was Nevertheless It happened d. d It wasn't the rent real estate agents agent's fault When the came to him and said they wanted to buy a Latin Farm tann he be showed them the old Is Is- place all in good faith It over occurred to him that the iver would rise that high such a possibility never entered his head or did it occur to Harry Linton The Linton were attracted to the Islington farm right off They had saving they said for years IP panning one day to buy a place inthe in inthe the country They had four children chil chU- Iron dren that needed pure air and sunshine sunshine sun sunS shine and good food The Islington place was Will just lust about what they had reamed dreamed Of or I They paid the agent cash for the farm which save for a couple of hundred dollars was very bit of their savings But Dut Larry Harry and his Ws wife had no false illusions allusions They knew what they were up against To them the farm was wasa a bargain That was in the spring of 1033 1935 That at summer Harry Harrt with the help helpt of t f his hf two sons raised a pretty good crop of tobacco besides enough vegetables to keep them through the r The tobacco crop paid ald them thema a small profit enough profit enough to satisfy heir their ne needs ds Next year they would do better I Jt It was a pretty hard winter There was a lot of snow and cold Iw ather The thermometer didn't ct above freezing for six weeks I Then Men abruptly came the end In I J March Tarch arch a thaw set in The thaw t was followed by a warm rain and then Ithen more weather The river began steadily to rise It spread out over the lowlands and began snatching away the homes of people who h Mol l built hullt there in order to benefit from t the fertile soil Jail 1 The were distressed over the plight of their neighbors They offered their home as temporary quarters to Io those whose properties were devastated Down in the village old old timers were saying that they'd never seen seeni i the river dver on such a rampage And it was still sUll rising And then one morning the tho Lin Lin- tons awoke and found the water al almost almost al al- most at their back door They couldn't believe their eyes It seemed Incredible a miracle Yet there it was Harry narry was optimistic It wouldn't rise an any farther he said It About noon of at that same day some men came up from the village and end warned the to leave J The river was still sWI rising Reports from Valley dam were to the effect that it might give way any minute Bat we cant can't t leave This is out our our r home Everything we have In the world is right here t The Tile next morning Harry Linton stepped In deep ankle-deep water when he descended to the kitchen He lIe lIef called to his wife and told her to f rouse the children and have them pack everything they could carry At noon the family vacated StandIng Stand Stand- Standing StandIng ing en on a high point of land they watched the mad torrents caused by the broken dam sweep weep down through the valley snatch their home homo from its foundation as though it were pasteboard d. d Mrs Mr Linton and the children wept Harry turned away aWRY from the sight of ot what was happening Ills ml hopes and dreams and efforts of 20 years were vanishing before his Ws very eyes lIe He felt sick The Tho Linton were probably the most pathetic of all aU those hose those who had suffered They were wera not natives of the country They had no friends or relatives or money They were destitute There was nothing left Nothing Days later Harry Linton walked out to where his bis farm had stood The land was swept clean There was not a sign of a building Where once onto had bad been fertile ferillo fields field there was a barren desert desert silt deposited by the torrents It was wasa wua a bleak and desolate scene cene Not even the staunch spirit and strong heart beart of Harry Linton could face It without feeling bitter In Ina a burst of passion panion he raised his Ws fist and shook It at the river In mid air he checked the gesture gesture ture staring with eyes that fairly bulged from his Ws head bead Ho lie blinked rubbed his Ws eyes stared again Slowly Slowly Slow Slow- ly he approached a clump of shrub shrub- bery berT that grew between where he stood and the water Grass and and silt sUt were caught by the bare branches of the bushes And And- something else was caught too Little squares of paper green in color written on Harry Linton picked off one stared at It continued to stare for fora a long tong moment Then TIlen very softly he whistled beneath his breath The thing that he held In his hand was wasa a tOO bill Linton went down to the bank and showed what he had found and told his Ws story There were 56 50 bills in all The bank president was skeptical but after bills he was forced to believe He lIe wired to Washington sending the serial numbers But Dut it didn't do much good The bills bUts Were old Issued years and years ago Undoubtedly Undoubtedly Undoubtedly Un Un- they had been stolen and the had buried burled them and then either forgotten where or had died The Tha river dver rising to abnormal heights had unearthed the treasure and sent it on a rampage A few other bills were found farther down the river and someone someone someone some some- one discovered an old tin strongbox strongbox strongbox strong strong- box with the cover ripped off oU and anda a note clinging to its ragged edg edge No one claimed the money No Noone Noone Noone one could claim it because Harry had found It on his Ws own land And most everyone was glad because the were desirable neighbors neighbors neigh neigh- bors bars bors and folks wanted them to remain re reo main on the Islington place |